The recent joint ventures formed by bp with russian and indian partners show the importance of the segment of the general environment in those countries that bp and other oil firms have to manage when contending with scarce resources.

What is product differentiation, and how can it be achieved ? what is product positioning? what conditions would head to head product positioning be appropriate?

Precision dyes is analyzing two machines to determine which one it should purchase. the company requires a rate of return of 15 percent and uses straight-line depreciation to a zero book value over the life of its equipment. ignore bonus depreciation. machine a has a cost of $462,000, annual aftertax cash outflows of $46,200, and a four-year life. machine b costs $898,000, has annual aftertax cash outflows of $16,500, and has a seven-year life. whichever machine is purchased will be replaced at the end of its useful life. which machine should the company purchase and how much less is that machine's eac as compared to the other machine's

The common stock and debt of northern sludge are valued at $65 million and $35 million, respectively. investors currently require a return of 15.9% on the common stock and a return of 7.8% on the debt. if northern sludge issues an additional $14 million of common stock and uses this money to retire debt, what happens to the expected return on the stock? assume that the change in capital structure does not affect the interest rate on northern’s debt and that there are no taxes.